engineeringhttps://home.cern/taxonomy/term/238/all
enCollaboration agreement between CERN and NTNUhttps://home.cern/cern-people/updates/2017/10/collaboration-agreement-between-cern-and-ntnu
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2017/10/04_dsc_6581.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2017/10/04_dsc_6581.jpg" width="1440" height="1029" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>Toril A. Nagelhus Hernes (NTNU’s Pro-Rector for Innovation) and Frédérick Bordry (CERN’s Director for Accelerators and Technology) after signing the collaboration agreement. (Image: Sophia Bennett/CERN)</p>
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<p>On 19 October, CERN signed a collaboration agreement with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway’s largest engineering school.</p>
<p>NTNU and CERN have a long tradition of collaboration in training students through the CERN doctoral, fellowship and technical student programmes and for joint projects in the field of knowledge and technology transfer. In many cases, these programmes serve as a gateway to research and development projects.</p>
<p>With this agreement, NTNU and CERN will further their shared wish to work together in training a new generation of engineers in all fields of interest common to both institutes, such as electrical, electronic, mechanical and process engineering, mechatronics, information and communications technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning.</p>
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Fri, 20 Oct 2017 15:16:23 +0000Iva Raynova119431 at https://home.cernThe microscope that digs deep for answershttps://home.cern/cern-people/updates/2017/08/microscope-digs-deep-answers
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<a href="/authors/iva-raynova" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Iva Raynova</a></p>
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2017/07/fib-sem.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2017/07/fib-sem.jpg" width="1200" height="684" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>The microscope is located in a climate-controlled room in order to maintain a constant temperature and humidity and to minimise vibrations induced by noise. A Faraday cage is also used to reduce the influence of neighbouring magnetic fields. (Image: CERN)</p>
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<p>XB540 – it may look like the code name of a secret agent, but in fact it is a scientific tool used for nanoscale investigations at CERN. For the past year, this extraordinary machine – a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) – has been digging beneath the surface to answer some long-standing questions in material science.</p>
<p>The XB540 FIB-SEM is an electron microscope and a 3D nano-machining workstation in one. While the high-resolution-scanning electron column can identify features as small as one millionth of a millimetre (10<sup>-9</sup> m), or just about the size of ten atoms, it only shows the surface of a sample. The additional FIB column, on the other hand, uses an ion beam to cut through the matter and gives an insight into what lies underneath.</p>
<p>The machine makes 3D reconstructions of regions of interest in a process that resembles conventional tomography. The ion beam sequentially removes nanoscale slices of the material and an image of every new layer is made. Combining thousands of these images results in a precise 3D reconstruction of the internal structure of a sample.</p>
<p><figure><img alt="" src="http://home.web.cern.ch/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/iraynova/cern_microscale_logo.jpg?s150622d1500469450" style="width: 671px; height: 671px;" /><figcaption>The CERN logo at the microscale. The microscope's ion beam milling capabilities have been used to reproduce the CERN logo on a silicon wafer at a milling depth of 50 nm. (Image: Alexander Lunt/CERN)</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>"There was a real need for this microscope. It helps us understand phenomena that otherwise would have remained unexplained, either because of difficulties in preparation of the sample or due to limited resolution," says Stefano Sgobba from the Engineering department, leader of the Materials, Metrology and NDT section managing the scanning electron microscopy laboratory.</p>
<p>So far studies have been done on a diverse range of samples, including thin films, pressure vessels, structural materials, bulk assemblies, electrical components, insulating materials and beam-interaction samples.</p>
<p>The thin film experts from the Vacuum, Surfaces and Coatings group have been among the first to put the results to use. "For a long time, they wanted to associate different production parameters with the impact they have on the film. Up until now it has been very difficult to quantify this behaviour. They produced multiple samples with different parameters and we gave them an insight into the microstructure, the thickness and the porosity of each of them. Thanks to this information, they now know more about which production parameters are the most suitable," explains Alexander Lunt, who is responsible for managing and operating the FIB-SEM laboratory.</p>
<p>In addition to its milling and imaging functions, the microscope was also designed to perform different analysis techniques like elemental characterisation. Designated detectors inside are able to identify the elemental composition of the sample. "We know precisely what the material is made of, with very high resolution," says Floriane Léaux, who is responsible for electronic microscopy activity at CERN.</p>
<p>Another analysis technique is the production of a lamella – a small slice of the material, less than 200 nanometres thick. It allows the researchers to look through the sample at a resolution of 0.9 nanometres. "In a lamella we can see a plane of atoms that have become misaligned in the crystal and have formed a dislocation. This tells us what has to be optimised in the production technology to improve the final product," explains Alexander.</p>
<p><figure><img alt="" src="http://home.web.cern.ch/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/iraynova/v3si_thin_film_lamella.jpg?s855866d1500469833" /><figcaption>Nanoscale resolution elemental mapping in a thin cross section of a V3Si superconducting thin film. Ion milling can be used to generate thin (less than 200 nm) cross sections of regions of interest in order to enable high resolution elemental mapping. In this study, the suitability of a tantalum barrier coating between a copper substrate and a superconducting film was assessed and was determined to be unsuitable due to the diffusion observed. (Image: Alexander Lunt/CERN)</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>The Mechanical and Materials Engineering group drew up a specification and procured the FIB-SEM with support from other CERN departments and the Accelerator Consolidation project. Stefano adds: "We would like to thank everybody who supported us in this achievement. This situation clearly shows that there is a single unified community at CERN working to reach our specific scientific goals."</p>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="600" src="https://cds.cern.ch/video/CERN-FOOTAGE-2017-036-001?showTitle=true" width="500"></iframe></div>
<p><figcaption><span>Elemental distribution inside a heat treated stainless steel weld. The video shows the elemental distribution of three different elements – Molybdenum (red), Manganese (green) and Chromium (blue) – within a 20 μm × 20 μm × 20 μm region of a heat treated stainless steel weld. This data has been collected using the FIB-SEM microscope and an elemental characterisation analysis technique called Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. High resolution (75 nm) mapping is necessary to gain insight into the distribution of regions with distinct elemental composition (phases), which are shown in purple (sigma) and yellow (delta ferrite) in the video. These features have important implications for the toughness and the magnetic properties of the weld, especially at cryogenic temperatures. The video shows the individual slices which were collected in a direction perpendicular to the weld bead direction, followed by a 3D representation of the volume. (Video: Alexander Lunt/CERN)</span></figcaption></p></figure></p>
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Tue, 08 Aug 2017 21:43:50 +0000Iva Raynova115726 at https://home.cernRepairs ongoing on electrical installations at CERNhttps://home.cern/about/updates/2016/05/repairs-ongoing-electrical-installations-cern
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<a href="/authors/harriet-jarlett" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Harriet Jarlett</a></p>
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2016/05/lhc-pho-2000-002.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2016/05/lhc-pho-2000-002.jpg" width="1039" height="830" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>On Friday 29 April 2016, a short circuit in one of the electrical transformers cut power to the LHC. It was caused by a beech marten (Image: Margot Frenot/CERN)</p>
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<p>At around 5:30 am on Friday 29 April 2016, a small beech marten found its way onto a large, open-air electrical transformer situated above ground at CERN, causing a short circuit and cutting the <a href="http://home.cern/about/engineering/powering-cern">power</a> to part of the <a href="http://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC).</p>
<p>The concerned part of the LHC stopped immediately and safely. Since then the entire machine has remained in standby mode.</p>
<p>When the little animal jumped onto the transformer, it created a small electrical arc, damaging high-voltage transformer connections.</p>
<p>Many of CERN’s sites are located in the countryside and similar events have happened a few times in the past. They are part of life of such an accelerator, as with any large industrial installation.</p>
<p>A team assessed the situation over the weekend and found no indication of damage inside the transformer. Repairs to the connections are hoped to be completed by the end of the week, as the LHC continues to prepare for the 2016 physics run.</p>
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Mon, 02 May 2016 13:27:16 +0000Harriet Kim Jarlett96423 at https://home.cernVibration tests for High-Luminosity LHC project beginhttps://home.cern/about/updates/2015/12/vibration-tests-high-luminosity-lhc-project-begin
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<a href="/authors/katarina-anthony" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Katarina Anthony</a></p>
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2015/12/rsz_max_3300.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2015/12/rsz_max_3300.jpg" width="1440" height="961" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>A seismic truck at Point 1 generated wave-like vibrations measured by EN/MME (Image: Sophia Bennett/CERN)</p>
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<p>These measurements will help engineers understand how works could impact the LHC’s operation, and will provide crucial details about the site’s geology before construction begins.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://home.cern/about/accelerators/high-luminosity-large-hadron-collider">High-Luminosity LHC</a> is a major upgrade to the <a href="http://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC) that will increase its discovery potential from 2025. </p>
<p>From R&amp;D into state-of-the-art magnets, to developing innovative, robust material capable of withstanding beam impact, the High-Luminosity LHC is a multi-faceted project involving many teams across CERN.</p>
<p>One of these teams has been mandated to measure vibrations at point 1 of the LHC ring where the ATLAS experiment is installed to see if civil engineering work for the High-Luminosity LHC can begin while the LHC is running. While civil engineering work for the LHC was carried out during Large Electron-Positron collider (LEP) operation, the LHC is much more sensitive to vibrations.</p>
<p>“While the main civil engineering work will, of course, take place during the long shutdown scheduled for July 2018, we would like to identify which parts of it could be carried out during LHC operation,” says Paolo Fessia, who is in charge of the HL-LHC integration. It is a tricky endeavour. Imagine a massive digger pounding away just 40 metres from the beam. Meanwhile, the LHC beam stability would need to remain within the micrometre level, that is, one millionth of a metre.</p>
<p>Could this be feasible? </p>
<p>The team in charge of the study began in an ATLAS tunnel, installing four sensors to measure vibrations in the ground. Further sensors were placed on the surface, and linked to the sensors underground.</p>
<p>“The first vibrations we studied were generated by a core-drilling machine, used to examine the site’s geological make-up,” says Paolo. “This information will be essential for designing and constructing the new underground caverns and technical galleries needed for the HL-LHC, as construction companies need to know exactly what they will find when they dig (hard rock, sand, water, etc.). While this is the main purpose of the drilling, it has also been used to study the effect of pulsed vibrations.”</p>
<p>A few days later, the seismic truck arrived. This unique, 24-tonne machine uses its entire weight to push down on the ground, generating wave-like vibrations up to 100 times per second. </p>
<p>“We created waves with a wide range of frequencies and looked at their attenuation,” says Michael Guinchard, who is in charge of the mechanical measurement lab. Measurements were also taken with the LHC beam and will provide a valuable data set for more detailed analysis.</p>
<p>So, while the HL-LHC is still many years away from operation, its impact on the LHC can already be felt… in this case, quite literally.</p>
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Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:39:52 +0000Harriet Kim Jarlett70592 at https://home.cernTracker hackershttps://home.cern/images/2015/09/tracker-hackers
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2015/09/atlas-semiconductor.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2015/09/atlas-semiconductor.jpg" width="1440" height="938" alt="" /></a> </figure>
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Workers assemble the ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker at CERN, which will take precision measurements of particles in the ATLAS detector (Image: ATLAS/CERN) </div>
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<p>The SCT system is designed to provide eight precision measurements per track in the intermediate radial range, contributing to the measurement of momentum, impact parameter and vertex position. <a href="http://www.atlas.ch/sct.html">More about the tracker</a>. For more information about this image visit the <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/2047419">CERN Document Server</a>.</p>
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Mon, 07 Sep 2015 12:35:24 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh60878 at https://home.cernEngineers refine protection system for LHC magnetshttps://home.cern/about/updates/2015/09/engineers-refine-protection-system-lhc-magnets
<p class="field-byline-taxonomy">
<a href="/authors/cian-oluanaigh" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cian O&#039;Luanaigh</a></p>
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<p>This week, the <a href="/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC) was switched off for its second scheduled technical stop since starting to run at the new high energy of 6.5 teraelectronvolts (TeV) per beam. These regular stops allow engineers and technicians to maintain the machine and ensure that all its components are working well.</p>
<p>"Lots of activities were planned for this technical stop," says Marzia Bernadini of the CERN Engineering department, who is responsible for coordinating and planning the works. "As well as many maintenance and consolidation tasks, this week's work focussed on two main tasks: installing four beam-gas vertex detectors at Point 4; and replacing more than 1000 electronic circuit boards in the accelerator's quench protection system (QPS).”</p>
<p>The job of the QPS is to monitor the LHC's <a href="/about/engineering/pulling-together-superconducting-electromagnets">superconducting magnets</a> for tiny changes in voltage. These magnets steer the particle beams around the accelerator's 27-kilometre ring. These magnets operate at very low temperatures – 1.9 K or -271.3°C – and even a tiny amount of energy released for any reason inside a magnet can warm its superconducting materials to above the critical superconducting temperature, causing a loss of <a href="/about/engineering/superconductivity">superconductivity</a>. This is called a <a href="/about/engineering/restarting-lhc-why-13-tev">quench</a>, and just one millijoule – the energy deposited by a 1-centime euro coin falling from 5 cm – is enough to provoke one. When this happens, the current has to be safely extracted in a very short time. Magnet protection in case of quenches is a crucial part of the design of the LHC’s magnetic system, and the electronic cards are in effect the eyes and ears of the quench protection system.</p>
<p><figure class="breakout-left"><img alt="" src="/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/coluanai/qps-card.jpg" /><figcaption>More than 1000 electronic cards that form part of the LHC's Quench Protection System were replaced this week (Image: CERN)</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>"We have many thousands of QPS electronic cards in the LHC," says Andrzej Siemko, who leads the Machine Protection and Electrical Integrity group in the CERN Technology department. "Some of these, used for the protection of the main dipole bus bars, are showing a higher sensitivity to radiation than expected, so they need to be replaced."</p>
<p>This sensitivity is a limiting factor for <a href="/about/updates/2015/08/lhc-progresses-towards-higher-intensities">increasing the intensity of the beam in the LHC</a> – the chips on the cards stop working when a certain number of bunches of protons are injected and accelerated to the top energy. Siemko stresses that there is no danger to the machine <span style="line-height: 20.8px;">–</span> the cards are one of three independent systems operating to monitor the electrical health of the magnet circuits. Keeping the system working, ensuring the redundancy for safety, is the main goal.</p>
<p>The team believes that the root of the problem lies with changes made during the long shutdown that ended earlier this year. Tests of certain connections required a minor modification to the cards so they were replaced with new ones. The immediate solution is therefore to replace the modified cards with the originals, which worked well during the LHC's first 3-year run.</p>
<p>The work involved not only the replacement of more than 1000 cards, but also a whole series of electrical quality and powering test afterwards. For the international team that tackled the job, safety was a top priority. "The most important thing is safety, followed by the quality of the work," technical coordinator Bruno Puccio told the engineers and technicians assembled at a recent planning meeting. "Take your time to do a quality job to allow a smooth restart for the LHC."</p>
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Thu, 03 Sep 2015 13:22:27 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh60757 at https://home.cernA superconducting shield for astronautshttps://home.cern/about/updates/2015/08/superconducting-shield-astronauts
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<a href="/authors/antonella-del-rosso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Antonella Del Rosso</a></p>
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<p>A team at CERN is working with the <a href="http://www.sr2s.eu/">European Space Radiation Superconducting Shield</a> (SR2S) project to develop a superconducting magnet that could protect astronauts from cosmic radiation during deep-space missions. The idea is to create an active magnetic field to shield spacecraft from high-energy particles.</p>
<p>The superconductor coils for the prototype magnet will be made of magnesium diboride (MgB<sub>2</sub>), the same type of conductor that was developed in the form of wire for the High Luminosity Cold Powering project at CERN's <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a>. </p>
<p>“In the framework of the project, we will test, in the coming months, a racetrack coil wound with an MgB<sub>2</sub> superconducting tape,” says Bernardo Bordini, coordinator of CERN activity in the framework of the SR2S project. “The prototype coil is designed to quantify the effectiveness of the superconducting magnetic shielding technology.”</p>
<p>During long-duration trips in space and in the absence of the magnetosphere that protects people living on Earth, astronauts are bombarded with high-energy cosmic rays that might cause a significant increase in the probability of various types of cancers. Because of this, exploration missions to Mars or other distant destinations will only become possible if an effective solution for adequately shielding astronauts is found. “If the prototype coil we will be testing produces successful results, we will have contributed important information to the feasibility of the superconducting magnetic shield,” says Amalia Ballarino, Superconductors and Superconducting Devices section leader.</p>
<p>There are many more challenges to overcome before a spacecraft shield can be built: various possible magnetic configurations need to be tested and compared and other key enabling technologies need to be developed. The MgB<sub>2</sub> superconductor seems to be very well placed to take part in this challenging adventure as, among its many advantages, there is also its ability to operate at higher temperatures (up to about 25 K) thus allowing the spacecraft to have a simplified cryogenic system. Watch this “space”!</p>
<p><em>Read a longer version of this article <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2015/32/News%20Articles/2038160?ln=en">here</a></em></p>
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Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:58:26 +0000Matilda Heron59888 at https://home.cernFirst technical stop for the LHChttps://home.cern/about/updates/2015/06/first-technical-stop-lhc
<p class="field-byline-taxonomy">
<a href="/authors/corinne-pralavorio" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Corinne Pralavorio</a></p>
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2015/06/control-room-lhc-physics-restart-2015.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2015/06/control-room-lhc-physics-restart-2015.jpg" width="1440" height="961" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>LHC operators in the CERN Control Centre during the first day of the Run 2 for physics on 3 June 2015 (Image: Maximilien Brice/CERN)</p>
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<p>In a few days’ time, the <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC) and its experiments will be taking a short break. This five-day breather is the first of three technical stops scheduled for the accelerator during the 2015 operating period, before a slightly longer stop during the end-of-year holidays.</p>
<p>Although <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2015/06/lhc-experiments-back-business-record-energy">physics data only started to be collected at the LHC on 3 June</a>, progressive recommissioning of the machine with beam actually began on 5 April. And even at the end of 2014, the machine had already been cooled and all of its equipment had begun operating.</p>
<p>Restarting the LHC involves much more than just pressing a button. The accelerator is made up of thousands of components that all have to work together harmoniously and need to be retuned at regular intervals. Each year of LHC operation therefore includes five-day technical stops every ten weeks or so. The experiments take advantage of these intervals to carry out their own maintenance work.</p>
<p>The first technical stop in 2015 will also allow LHCf to dismantle its detectors. <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2015/06/smaller-lhc-collaborations-analyse-collisions-13-tev">LHCf</a> is one of the LHC’s three smallest experiments and operates with beams that are not very concentrated, to avoid damage to its detectors. The operators of the LHC have therefore planned a special run this week, with beams that are less dense at the collision points. The other experiments will also use this opportunity to take data, in particular to calibrate their detectors.</p>
<p>After this first technical stop, several days will be dedicated to the scrubbing of the beam pipes ready to increase the machine's luminosity, i.e. to increase the number of bunches of protons. The LHC will then restart for physics with more bunches overall and a greater concentration of bunches at the collision points. Physics data collection will continue until the next technical stop, scheduled for the end of August.</p>
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Thu, 11 Jun 2015 14:35:50 +0000Corinne Pralavorio57697 at https://home.cernEDMS 6 now availablehttps://home.cern/cern-people/updates/2014/04/edms-6-now-available
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<a href="/authors/anais-schaeffer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Anaïs Schaeffer</a></p>
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<p>A new version of the Engineering and Equipment Data Management Service (EDMS) – a system used to manage technical data and data concerning CERN equipment – is now available.</p>
<p>A unique interface for all data linked to CERN’s engineering work, EDMS currently stores more than 1.2 million documents containing almost 2 million files, guaranteeing the transfer of protected information and knowledge to future generations of engineers and scientists at CERN, be it the design data and documentation for a specific object (technical specifications, test procedures, non-conformities, drawings, etc.) or technical information about the laboratory’s infrastructure and scientific equipment.</p>
<p>In a few months, the new EDMS 6 system will definitively replace the current system, offering its 13,000 users a more modern and intuitive interface that meets their expectations. “We've been working in close collaboration with some of the system’s most frequent users to develop this new version of EDMS,” says Aleksandra Wardzinska, EDMS 6 Project Leader. “We carried out the first tests in January 2013 with a panel of key users, thanks to whom we were able to improve the system and integrate some new functions that they really wanted.”</p>
<p>These new functions include a simple drag-and-drop method for downloading EDMS files, an improved tree structure and easy right-click access to certain options, to name just a few. “We wanted to make this interface more interactive and user-friendly for everyone,” says Rachel Bray, Product Lifecycle Management and Document Management Specialist. “It will make life much easier for new arrivals and members of the personnel who are less familiar with EDMS, as well as for those who use it every day.”</p>
<p>The new version of EDMS, which can already be accessed from the interface of the current system, will continue to evolve over the next few months (keep an eye on the <em>News</em> panel of the new EDMS 6 home page for updates on these changes and consult the tutorials <a href="https://espace.cern.ch/edms-services/EDMS6/EDMS%206%20Tutorials.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>). To continue improving this new management system, its team of developers needs you! So start using EDMS 6 today and send your comments to <a href="mailto:edms.support@cern.ch">edms.support@cern.ch</a>.</p>
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Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:00:32 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh41923 at https://home.cernThe very model of a modern pi-mode structurehttps://home.cern/cern-people/updates/2014/03/very-model-modern-pi-mode-structure
<p class="field-byline-taxonomy">
<a href="/authors/katarina-anthony" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Katarina Anthony</a></p>
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<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2014/03/pims-1.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_cern_people/2014/03/pims-1.jpg" width="1440" height="961" alt="" /></a> </div>
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<p>The newly assembled PIMS cavity undergoes testing in CERN's Main Workshop (Image: CERN)</p>
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<p>Linac 4's PI-Mode Structures (PIMS) are the first structures of their kind to accelerate protons. Now, over three years after work began on production, over 180 PIMS elements have been rough-machined and the first new PIMS cavity is being assembled at CERN.</p>
<p>As the final accelerating structures of Linac 4, located 53 metres to 74 metres downstream of the source, the state-of-the-art PIMS cavities will take protons from 100 to 160 MeV. While the first cavity was built entirely at CERN, construction of the remaining cavities has become a larger, multi-national operation. The newest PIMS cavity is being assembled and validated at CERN's Main Workshop. Built in collaboration with the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Poland and the Jülich Research Centre in Germany, it is the first of its kind to be produced outside the organization.</p>
<p>Sharing all the required know-how with the external centres proved a demanding task. To ensure the correct construction of these sensitive modules, members of the CERN Workshop and the Linac 4 accelerating structure team organized regular meetings in Poland and at CERN to provide support. "In weekly teleconference meetings the progress is reviewed, information is shared and difficulties are solved jointly," says Rolf Wegner, a member of the Linac 4 PIMS team who also developed the cavity's RF design. "Now most of the parts are routinely machined up to the final stage."</p>
<p>The Polish institute NCBJ made impressive progress in order to meet the demanding specifications. As the search for industrial partners for machining in Poland was not successful, only NCBJ was able to develop production methods to reach tolerances as tight as ±10 microns over a diameter of 540 millimetres.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/old/bead.jpg" /></p>
<div>
<p><em>The electromagnetic field inside the cavity is determined by measuring reflections created by a conducting bead (Image: CERN)</em></p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<p>Arriving from Poland part-by-part, it takes around six month to complete and test a PIMS cavity before it can be installed in Linac 4. Each cavity consists of seven coupled cells. In order to save copper, cells are formed by welding together eight discs and seven rings, each with a diameter of 0.5 metres. Together, these create 15 elements per cavity.</p>
<p>After metrology checks, the 15 elements are stacked up to a complete cavity and the RF parameters are determined. Discs are then re-machined on dedicated sections, so-called "tuning islands", to adjust the frequency. Once the frequency has been checked, all 15 elements are surface-treated for vacuum and joined together by electron beam welding. Then final RF adjustments and vacuum tests are performed before the cavity can be connected and high-power tested. Collaboration between many different CERN teams is essential in order to complete all these activities.</p>
</div>
Mon, 03 Mar 2014 08:45:55 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh40168 at https://home.cernA nice splicehttps://home.cern/images/2014/02/nice-splice
<figure class="field-image">
<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2014/02/splice.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2014/02/splice.jpg" width="2000" height="1333" alt="" /></a> </figure>
<div class="field-caption">
Engineers make precision measurements to some of the final splices on the LHC. Splices connect superconducting cables within the accelerator (Image: Anna Pantelia) </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p>Last week a team <a href="/about/updates/2014/02/pictures-access-last-lhc-splice">opened up interconnections between magnets</a> by cutting the M lines – pipes containing superconducting cables – in the Large Hadron Collider. The engineers pictured above can now access the splices that connect these cables together for precision measurements. </p>
<p>For more information about this image visit the <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/1662736">CERN Document Server</a>.</p>
</div>
Fri, 21 Feb 2014 12:01:58 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh39894 at https://home.cernIn pictures: Access to the last LHC splicehttps://home.cern/about/updates/2014/02/pictures-access-last-lhc-splice
<p class="field-byline-taxonomy">
<a href="/authors/cian-oluanaigh" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cian O&#039;Luanaigh</a></p>
<div class="field-image">
<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2014/02/smacc_finish_line.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/update-for_the_public/2014/02/smacc_finish_line.jpg" width="1024" height="684" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-caption">
<p>Members of the Superconducting Magnets And Circuits Consolidation team (SMACC) celebrate in style after opening up the last LHC splice (Image: Michael Struik/CERN)</p>
</div>
<div class="field-body">
<p>Since April last year, the Superconducting Magnets And Circuits Consolidation (SMACC) team has been strengthening the electrical connections of the superconducting circuits on the <a href="/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC). This work is taking place as part of the first LHC long shutdown.</p>
<p>To consolidate an interconnection between LHC magnets, the SMACC team has first to open the zone of the accelerator around the joints. The first step is to slide a custom-built metallic bellows of the way and remove the thermal shielding inside, revealing a series of metallic pipes linking the magnets to each other. One set of these pipes – the "M-lines" – must then be cut open to access the splices between the superconducting cables.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="" src="/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/old/engineer_opens_m_line.jpg" />
<figcaption>An engineer at work at a section where magnets join on the LHC (Image: Michael Struik/CERN)</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>"Opening the M-lines allows us to check the quality of the existing connections, to determine if they need to be redone before they are consolidated," says CERN engineer Jean-Philippe Tock, who leads the SMACC project.</p>
<p>Last week, the team – composed of CERN staff, mechanics from Pakistan and industrial support&nbsp; – opened the last so-called M-line stainless steel sleeve. They celebrated this milestone in style, with a Formula-1 type photo opportunity.</p>
<figure>
<img alt="" src="/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/old/inspecting_an_open_m_line.jpg" />
<figcaption>An engineer inspects a splice inside a recently opened M line (Image: Michael Struik/CERN)</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tock says that the rest of the consolidation project is progressing well. "Over 1000 of the 1695 interconnections between magnets on the LHC have been re-welded," he says. "And more than a quarter of the accelerator has been permanently reclosed and leak tested."</p>
<p>Tock says that all the activities are moving in harmony thanks to a dedicated coordination team and efficient supervision of the production team. "Consecutive activities take place one behind the other in a train-like structure moving along the accelerator," he says.</p>
<p>The work continues…</p>
<figure>
<img alt="" src="/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/inline-images/old/team.jpg" />
<figcaption>Members of the Superconducting Magnets And Circuits Consolidation team (SMACC) in the LHC tunnel (Image: Michael Struik/CERN)</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<iframe width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" src="//cds.cern.ch/video/CERN-VIDEORUSH-2014-005-030?showTitle=true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption>In the video above, an engineer prepares a custom tool to cut through the M-line, revealing the superconducting splices inside the LHC (Video: Noemi Caraban Gonzalez/CERN)</figcaption></figure> </div>
Tue, 11 Feb 2014 08:43:19 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh39618 at https://home.cernPass the screwdriverhttps://home.cern/images/2014/01/pass-screwdriver
<figure class="field-image">
<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2014/01/tunnel.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2014/01/tunnel.jpg" width="2000" height="1333" alt="" /></a> </figure>
<div class="field-caption">
An engineer works on an interconnection between dipole magnets on the Large Hadron Collider (Image: Anna Pantelia/CERN) </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p>For more information about this image visit the <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/1645024">CERN Document Server</a>.</p>
</div>
Tue, 28 Jan 2014 09:46:42 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh39183 at https://home.cernClosurehttps://home.cern/images/2013/11/closure
<figure class="field-image">
<a href="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2013/11/closure.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://home.cern/sites/home.web.cern.ch/files/image/featured/2013/11/closure.jpg" width="2000" height="1335" alt="" /></a> </figure>
<div class="field-caption">
Engineers carry out the final closures of interconnections between magnets in their assigned sectors of the LHC tunnel (Image: Anna Pantelia/CERN) </div>
Mon, 18 Nov 2013 11:29:29 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh37302 at https://home.cernNew beam dump for a veteran acceleratorhttps://home.cern/about/updates/2013/10/new-beam-dump-veteran-accelerator
<p class="field-byline-taxonomy">
<a href="/authors/cian-oluanaigh" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cian O&#039;Luanaigh</a></p>
<div class="field-body">
<figure><iframe width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" src="//cds.cern.ch/video/CERN-MOVIE-2013-120-001?showTitle=true" allowfullscreen></iframe><figcaption>(Video: Noemí Carabán/CERN)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Beams do not circulate inside accelerators forever. As particles collide with the sides of the beam pipe or with each other, the beams "degrade" – they become less likely to give collisions that could lead to interesting physics.</p>
<p>Accelerator physicists can then choose to "dump" the beams, removing them from the accelerator and sending them to be safely absorbed at a "beam dump" –&nbsp;usually a radiation-shielded block deep underground.</p>
<p>In the video above, CERN engineers install a new beam dump on the <a href="/about/accelerators/proton-synchrotron-booster">Proton Synchrotron Booster</a>&nbsp;–&nbsp;a key element in the CERN <a href="/about/accelerators">accelerator complex</a> that has been delivering protons to the <a href="/about/accelerators/proton-synchrotron">Proton Synchrotron</a> (PS) since 1972.</p>
<p>The Booster is made up of four superimposed synchrotron rings that receive beams of protons from <a href="/about/accelerators/linear-accelerator-2">linear accelerator 2</a> (Linac 2) at 50 MeV and accelerate them to 1.4 GeV for injection into the PS. Before the Booster received its first beams on 26 May 1972, protons were injected directly from Linac 2 into the PS, where they were accelerated to 26 GeV. The low injection energy of 50 MeV limited the number of protons the PS could accept. The Booster allows the PS to accept over 100 times more protons, which greatly enhances the beam's use for experiments.</p>
<p>The original beam dump on the PS Booster was designed in the 1960s to cope with beam energies in the order of 800 MeV from Linac 2. But after the second long shutdown of CERN's accelerator complex in 2017-2018, the higher energy <a href="/about/accelerators/linear-accelerator-4">Linac 4</a> is scheduled to replace Linac 2 as the source of protons for the <a href="/about/accelerators/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a>. So the new PS Booster dump is expected to withstand beams of up to 2 GeV.</p>
<p>"The new beam dump is cylindrical like the old one, but it is larger in length and diameter, so it will stop more particles," says CERN engineer Alba Sarrió, who led the project to replace the dump. "The new dump is an alloy of 99% copper, with traces of chromium and zirconium. This gives it favourable thermo-mechanical properties compared to the old, iron beam dump." Sarrió says the new beam dump should last for 25-30 years.</p>
<p>This video shows the installation of that new dump core inside a cavity one metre in diameter, surrounded by five shielding rings made of concrete and steel. The replacement is the culmination of months of preparation, an interdisciplinary work involving several teams from the <a href="http://en-dep.web.cern.ch/en-dep/">Engineering</a>, <a href="http://espace.cern.ch/be-dep/default.aspx">Beams</a> and <a href="http://te-dep.web.cern.ch/te-dep/">Technology</a>&nbsp;departments, as well as the collaboration and supervision of radioprotection experts.</p> </div>
Fri, 11 Oct 2013 10:29:16 +0000Cian O'Luanaigh36301 at https://home.cern